Insights
Practical writing on visibility, search and independent practice for therapists.
Start here: the free 10-point therapist website audit
Ten checks that decide whether clients find you on Google and in AI search, with a downloadable guide to the fixes.
How to Start SEO for Your Private Practice Yourself: Five Steps, in Order
If you want to do the groundwork yourself before hiring anyone, these are the five steps we would start with, in the order that matters: your Google Business Profile, a check of your website, three specific pages, telling Google your site exists, and six months of steady tracking.
Local SEO for Private Practice Therapists: What Matters, and When
Local SEO decides whether you show up when someone searches for a therapist in your city. For a solo practice, four things carry most of the weight: your Google Business Profile, recent and specific reviews, matching contact details everywhere, and knowing how much any of it matters if you work online.
How Independent Therapists Actually Get Clients
Referrals and a directory listing are where almost every independent practice starts, and both are fragile. Here's how to build a few channels you actually own instead.
How to Start a Private Practice in Therapy: What It Actually Takes
What you actually need to open, what it costs, whether it's possible with little money, and how hard the transition really is. Drawn from current practice-management data, not assumptions.
You Hired Someone. Their Caseload Isn't Filling. Here's What Actually Went Wrong.
You hired because you had more inquiries than you could take, and now their calendar sits half empty. The reason isn't courage or timing, it's that your overflow was never transferable. Here's the real fix.
How to Set Up Google Business Profiles for a Group Therapy Practice
One profile for the practice, one per provider, each verified separately, and a 2026 review-policy change that makes the usual "route reviews to each therapist" advice a violation. Here's the compliant setup.
Does Group Practice SEO Actually Work Differently Than Solo Practitioner SEO?
Group practice SEO isn't solo-practitioner SEO applied more times. Here's what actually differs in Google Business Profile setup, site architecture, and schema, and why getting it backwards costs you visibility.
Where Therapy Referrals Come From, and How to Build More of Your Own
Referrals come from relationships plus findability, and both are things you can own instead of rent. Here is how to build each without depending on a directory.
SEO vs Psychology Today vs Paid Ads: Where Should a Therapy Practice Spend to Get Found?
Psychology Today, Google Ads, and SEO all get a therapy practice in front of clients. They behave very differently once you stop paying. Here is how to decide where your budget goes.
Leaving Alma, Headway, or Grow Therapy: What Happens to Your Caseload
What Alma, Headway, and Grow Therapy officially say about leaving: your clients, your notes, your insurance contracts, and how to cancel. Plus the 2026 changes behind the question.
Psychology Today vs Google Business Profile: Where Should a Therapy Practice Put Its Money?
Psychology Today costs $29.95 a month for a profile you do not control. A Google Business Profile is free and puts you in the local map pack. Here is which a therapy practice should build first, and when the paid listing still earns its place.
How to Rank on Google for Therapists: The Order to Do It In
A step-by-step guide to ranking on Google as an independent therapist. What to do first, what each step actually moves, and how long it realistically takes.
How to Get Your Therapy Practice's Google Business Profile Ready for Gemini
Google's Gemini can now read your Google Business Profile to shape AI answers and draft review replies. Here is what changed on June 10, who it reaches, and a readiness checklist for solo therapy practices.
Aetna's Alma Rate Cuts and Private Pay: How to Work Out What They Cost You
Aetna's cuts for Alma therapists took effect August 15 in a smaller form than first announced. Why Aetna's 90837 rates are not public, how to work out your own numbers, and what the Heard data says about private pay.
AI Search for Therapists: How Clients Find You on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google in 2026
Clients are increasingly finding therapists by asking AI tools instead of scrolling directories. Here is how AI search actually selects who it recommends, why it works differently from Google, and what makes a therapy practice visible across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI answers.
Your Therapy Practice Is Getting AI Search Traffic. Here's How to See It in Google Analytics.
Google added a dedicated AI Assistant channel to GA4 on May 13, 2026. It automatically tracks visits from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Most therapists have no idea it exists. Here is exactly where to find it and what it tells you.
How Therapists Get Found on Perplexity (And Why It Works Differently Than ChatGPT)
Perplexity Health launched in March 2026 with clinical journal integration and a freshness-first citation algorithm that makes it the most accessible AI search platform for independent therapist websites. Here is how it works and what to do about it.
Grow Therapy Now Manages Your Psychology Today Profile. Here's What That Means.
As of June 1, 2026, Grow Therapy requires providers to opt in to a Grow-managed Psychology Today profile. What Grow, Psychology Today, Rula, and Alma officially say, and how to opt out.
What Aetna's Rate Cuts Mean for Therapists on Alma, and What Was Walked Back
Aetna's planned July 15 cuts for Alma therapists were partly walked back on July 8, and the rest took effect August 15. What was announced, what changed, and who said what, with sources.
I Didn't Go to Grad School to Learn Marketing
Marketing feels wrong to most therapists. Not because they're bad at it. Because the advice they keep getting was designed for businesses that want scale. Therapy isn't that.
Psychology Today Referrals Dropped: What the Data Shows
Many therapists report far fewer Psychology Today referrals, others are still booked solid. What therapists report, what Psychology Today says, and whether $29.95 a month is still worth it.
Do Therapists Need SEO in 2026?
Most therapists are asking the wrong question about SEO. Here's what search visibility actually means for independent practitioners in 2026, and what to do about it.
What Therapist SEO Costs in 2026 (Honest Breakdown)
SEO pricing for therapists ranges from zero to thousands per month. Here's an honest breakdown of what each level actually gets you, and what makes sense for an independent practitioner.
How to Get Therapy Clients Without Psychology Today: A 2026 Action Guide
An eight-step playbook for independent therapists building practice without directory dependency. Google Business Profile, SEO foundations, niche directories, and the referral network system that actually works.
How Therapists Get Found on ChatGPT and AI Search (2026)
When someone asks ChatGPT to recommend a therapist, most independent practitioners do not appear. Here is exactly why and what changes it.
Therapist Website Not Getting Traffic: What Is Wrong
A therapy website that does not rank is almost always a structure problem, not a copy problem. Find out what Google needs and how to fix it.
Why Therapists Leave Psychology Today
Why many therapists say Psychology Today stopped working: platform-managed profiles, venture-backed networks, and a shift to Google and AI search. What is on the record, what Psychology Today says, and our view.
How to Write a Therapy Website Page AI Will Cite
Clients are asking ChatGPT to recommend therapists. Whether your practice appears in those answers depends less on how your site reads to humans and more on how it reads to machines. Here is what to change.
Therapist Website Copy Overhaul for Clarity
Therapist website copy fails at three spots: homepage hero, about page, and services. The overhaul checklist that fixes each in under three hours.
Keywords for Therapists: Where to Put Them and How to Choose
How to choose keywords for therapists and where to place them on your site. A practical guide to the mental health SEO keywords that match what clients actually search for.
How to Get Your Therapy Practice Cited on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude in 2026
AI engines are becoming a referral source for therapy practices, and the sites they cite most are not necessarily the ones with the highest Google rankings. Here is what determines whether your practice appears in AI-generated responses and what to do about it.
Google Business Profile for Therapists: How to Rank in the Local 3-Pack
Most therapists have a Google Business Profile but almost none have optimized it. The local 3-pack captures roughly 44 percent of clicks for high-intent searches like therapist near me. This guide covers the five optimizations that actually move a therapy practice into those top three results.
Psychology Today Profile FAQ: Cost, Cancelling, Ranking, and Stats (2026)
What Psychology Today's own terms and pages say about the $29.95 membership, cancelling or deleting a profile, how profiles are ranked, extra profiles, and what your stats show.
Does a Therapist Need a Niche to Rank on Google?
Yes, and the reason is keyword competition, not marketing theory. Here is how niche positioning changes your ranking odds and what it means if you work as a generalist.